Being around a dog just makes you feel better… unless you’re allergic or something. Otherwise, it improves the quality of life to be around man’s best friend. Friday is even National Take Your Dog to Work Day, but we here at Nerdist have that pretty much every day, and it truly does improve things. But what do the dogs experience? What fresh hell do our canine companions find as they go about their day? In Todd Solondz‘s new film Wiener-Dog, we see all the different lives one particular dog touches in her short life. But it’s a dark comedy, guys.
In the above clip, Danny DeVito—a down-and-out film professor trying to sell a screenplay—gets a call from his agent. It seems like good news, but it probably isn’t. The cooking hot dogs rotating on the spit is probably not wasted symbolism. And Solondz is not necessarily known for lighthearted affairs (this is the director of heart-rippers like Happiness and Welcome to the Dollhouse), even if his films are funny in an uncomfortable way.
The titular dog teaches a young boy some life lessons before being taken in by a vet tech Dawn Wiener (Greta Gerwig), after which she goes on to m meet a series of other oddball people. Each has a longing and a need for something, naturally, and the dark comedy is nothing if not appallingly honest. The impressive cast includes Ellen Burstyn, Kieran Culkin, Julie Delpy, Tracy Letts, and Zosia Mamet.
Wiener Dog is in theaters June 24 in select theaters. Enjoy the full trailer right here!
Let us know what you think of Todd Solondz’s next hilari-sad opus in the comments below!
Image: Amazon Studios/IFC Films
Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. Follow him on Twitter!
